Monday Munchies

I must admit something right off the bat — this post is a lie.

Below is a photographic record of what I ate over the course of one day. While I don’t plan to do this often, I understand many people are curious about how dietitians eat. I know this because invariably when I meet someone, the second question they ask me (after “what should I be eating?”) is “what do YOU eat, oh wonderful, gracious, supreme Jessie, RD?”.*

*Question paraphrased to reflect common sentiment.

So! For one day, I toted my bulky camera around to photograph every bite — just for you, dear reader. Where does the lie come in? That one day was not today (Monday), as the title of this post would suggest, but was, in fact, a Sunday.

Phew. I feel better getting that off my chest.

I feel it is important to show both weekend days and weekdays, since many people, including myself, tend to eat differently on each type of day. Therefore, I present,

Sun-day, SUNDAY, Sunday!

Breakfast, approximately 8 am:

Fuzziness due to the fact that my tripod was just so far away.

Yogurt, 1/2 sliced banana, 1/2 cup frozen blueberries, 1/2 tablespoon chia seeds. Coffee with about 1 tablespoon skim milk (plus another swig of milk for good measure). Missing: one Brazil nut.

This is actually not my typical breakfast. I’ll feature a typical breakfast in a future Monday Munchy. I made this bowl of deliciousness because I wanted to dig into one of my favorite yogurts:

I first discovered this yogurt at a farmer’s market in Boulder, Colorado and have been dreaming about it ever since. When we discovered that a grocery store out here carries it, I did a little celebratory dance right in front of the dairy case, then turned to Peter and said “I’m so glad we moved here!”.

Noosa makes full-fat yogurts only. I have no problem with enjoying them sometimes. They remind me of eating yogurt in China and Scotland, where nonfat doesn’t seem to exist. When eating full-fat yogurts, I just serve myself less (say, 1/2 cup instead of 1 cup nonfat). If I eat a full cup of full fat (and I have), I tend to feel a little funny. My body is telling me “Jessie, this is a sometimes food. Yo.”.

Lunch, about 12 pm:

Leftover food from this Asian restaurant and leftover roasted sweet potato over a nest of fresh spinach (sneaky way to eat more vegetables without even thinking about it). The leftovers were a spicy Singapore rice noodle, kung pao chicken (a dead ringer for the one I had in China!), and a couple of pieces of squid. A glass of skim milk.

Finished with a bite of Peter-made chocolate bar:

Mid-afternoon snack, about 4 pm:

Chobani yogurt, apple cinnamon flavor. I’m not a huge fan of flavored yogurt (Noosa yoghurt notwithstanding). I don’t like fruit on the bottom (too sweet) and I prefer to add my own fresh fruit. Still, this one looked tasty and was on sale. Verdict? Not my fav. Besides the plain, the only flavor of Chobani I like is the passionfruit.

Dinner, about 7 pm:

Pork and noodle dish from one of Peter’s new cookbooks, sautéed okra on the side (note how I follow MyPlate). A glass of skim milk.

Noodle closeup:

I’d planned to give you recipes for both the noodles and the okra, but the noodles were just … bleh. Not much flavor. They’re not ready to be shared yet. Peter made a spicy sweet sauce to pour over the noodles, which gave them a little more flavor.

So the okra recipe it is! Okra is not easy to find in our home state of Connecticut, but here in Illinois, it’s everywhere. I know some people don’t enjoy okra for textural reasons — for those, I urge you to try this recipe, where the okra turns out crisp and flavorful. It’s from James Peterson’s Vegetables, with the optional addition of anchovies and toasted pine nuts. Instead of my usual kicked-up recipe title, I left the original recipe title because there is a large amount of respect for Mr. Peterson in our household (or “my friend James”, as Peter likes to call him).

Sautéed Okra

  Prep Time: 5 minutes

  Cook Time: 20 minutes

  Keywords: stir-fry appetizer side sugar-free gluten-free okra anchovies

Ingredients (4 servings)

  • 1 lb okra
  • 2 tablespoons olive or peanut oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced (optional)
  • 1 thin slice prosciutto, cut into 1/8 by 1-inch strips (optional)
  • 2 anchovies, minced (optional)
  • 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted (optional)
  • 2 jalapeno chiles, seeded and minced (optional)
  • salt
  • pepper

Instructions

Wash okra just before you’re ready to use it. Cut off and discard both ends and slice the okra into 1/4-inch-thick rounds.

Heat oil in a wide skillet or wok over medium heat and add okra. Cook over medium to high heat — just hot enough to keep the okra sizzling but not enough to brown it right away or cause the oil to smoke. Stir often.

After 15 minutes, stir in the garlic, prosciutto, anchovies, and chiles (if using) and cook for 5 minutes. Add pine nuts. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

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Happy Labor Day!

Q: What’s your favorite side dish?

14 Comments

  1. There I am again! Your frozen blueberries look very different to the fresh blueberries we get here. A lot shinier and slightly more red-purple than blue-purple.

    Okra is good and sadly misunderstood. In Greece we cook them with spring onions, green pea pods, potatoes and/or artichokes, usually in tomato sauce. Serve with feta cheese and lots of crusty bread.

    My favourite side dish is French fries.. sorry Jessie RD! But most of the time I’ll settle for mash or baked potatoes.

    1. I love crispy French fries! I always snag a few if Peter gets them. We’ll definitely have to try your version of okra next, especially with the feta cheese and crusty bread 🙂

  2. Yum yum! It’s definitely fun to see what other people eat. I would post it myself, but I eat many of the same things every day, so it gets boring.
    We have that NOOSA yogurt at the store where I work, and yes, it’s DELICIOUS!

    Peter’s chocolate coconut creation looks outstanding.

    1. I hope your planning is going well! 🙂

  3. I LOVE reading about what other people eat over the course of a day! It’s some strange voyeuristic tendency I’m sure. 🙂 I use the spinach-under-the-meal trick a TON. This way I know I got some leafy greens in for the day!

  4. Hi Jessie! Woohoo, so happy you’re blogging again!!! One of my favourite side dishes is polenta – love the texture and flavour and it’s a bit different from the norm. Roasted sweet potatoes are another big favourite. I’m not usually a huge fan of okra but your recipe looks really appetizing! Can’t wait to read more, hooray 😀

  5. It takes dedication to photograph every last thing to pass your lips! Everything looks delicious!

    I will have to think up of some things to do in Champaign! I’m so out of the loop…when did you guys move!? One thing Champaign does right is Mexican food, and they do have really good sushi, too! I miss it there! Ironically, my in-laws live there so we’ll definitely be in for a football game and the holidays — we will have to meet up!!!

    1. Hi Nicole! We moved about three weeks ago. We haven’t seen much of Champaign-Urbana yet, but we’re getting there! We’ll definitely check out the Mexican food, but I think I’ll have a hard time dragging Peter to get sushi 😉

      Yes, definitely let me know when you’re in town!!

  6. I loved seeing some of these daily eats…and I love eating full-fat yogurt too. Makes such a difference. And the okra with pork? Too good! I’m already hungry for dinner (and I just finished a late lunch!) Thank you for sharing with me!

  7. Your eats look delicious, that gorgeous breakfast bowl is really calling to me. I just hopped over to check out why you eat a Brazil nut every day — very interesting!

  8. Oh dang! Sorry you didn’t dig our Apple Cinnamon. Shoot an email to fans[at]chobani dot com and let us replace that cup for you, would ya?

    Amy
    @Chobani

  9. Will not be making okra or anything with it any time soon. Love ya – but no. Love canning jars for everything.
    Great read!
    🙂
    V

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